India - Santosh Trophy

The National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, due to ties with FIFA (from 2024–25), also known as the FIFA Santosh Trophy, or simply Santosh Trophy, is an inter-state national football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the sport's governing body in India. Before the launch of the first national club league, the National Football League in 1996, the Santosh Trophy was considered the top domestic tournament in India. Many players who have represented India internationally have played and gained honour while playing in the Santosh Trophy. The tournament is held every year with eligible teams who are divided into zones, must play in the qualifying round and can progress into the tournament proper. The current champions are Karnataka, who won their title after 54 years during the 2022–23 edition. This was the first trophy for Karnataka, which had previously won four times as the princely state of Mysore, after 1968-69.

The tournament was started in 1941 by the Indian Football Association (IFA), which was the then de facto governing body of football in India. It was named after the former president of the IFA, Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhury, the Maharaja of Santosh who had died aged 61 in 1939. The IFA later donated the Santosh Trophy to the AIFF, soon after its formation as the sport's official governing body in India, and since then AIFF has been organising the tournament. The trophy for the runner-up, Kamala Gupta Trophy, was also donated by the then president of IFA, Dr. S.K. Gupta, and it was named in honour of his wife. The third-place trophy, Sampangi Cup, was donated by the Karnataka State Football Association (then Mysore Football Association) and was named so in the memory of a renowned footballer, Sampangi, who was from Mysore. Until 2018, the tournament was organised as an individual competition, but since 2021, the AIFF rebranded it as the men's senior tier of National Football Championship for the regional teams of various age groups. In September 2022, it was announced that the tournament will be organized on zonal basis.

**Trofeul Santosh**

Trofeul Santosh este un turneu anual de fotbal din India, organizat de Federația Indiană de Fotbal (AIFF) și este considerat cel mai vechi turneu de fotbal din Asia.

**Istorie**

Turneul a fost fondat în 1941 de Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhury, primul președinte al AIFF, și a fost numit după Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhury de Santosh, un mare susținător al fotbalului indian.

**Format**

Trofeul Santosh se dispută într-un format de eliminare, cu 37 de echipe reprezentând diferite state și uniuni teritoriale din India. Turneul are cinci runde, inclusiv o rundă preliminară, runde zonale și o rundă finală.

**Echipe celebre**

De-a lungul istoriei sale, Trofeul Santosh a fost câștigat de unele dintre cele mai puternice echipe de stat din India, inclusiv:

* Bengal de Vest (32 de titluri)
* Punjab (9 titluri)
* Goa (8 titluri)
* Kerala (7 titluri)
* Maharashtra (6 titluri)

**Importanță**

Trofeul Santosh joacă un rol crucial în dezvoltarea fotbalului indian, oferind o platformă pentru tinerii talente să-și demonstreze abilitățile. De asemenea, ajută la identificarea și dezvoltarea viitorilor jucători pentru echipa națională a Indiei.

**Trofeul actual**

Trofeul Santosh 2023 a avut loc în Kerala, iar Bengalul de Vest a câștigat turneul, învingând Kerala în finală.